‘TO MAKE US INDEPENDENT’: THE EDUCATION OF YOUNG MEN AT THE CHEROKEE MALE SEMINARY, 1851-1910. By NATALIE PANTHER Bachelor of Arts in Psychology Fort Lewis College Durango, CO 2003 Master of Arts in History Oklahoma State University Stillwater, OK 2007 Submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate College of the Oklahoma State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY July, 2013 ‘TO MAKE US INDEPENDENT’: THE EDUCATION OF YOUNG MEN AT THE CHEROKEE MALE SEMINARY, 1851-1910.” Dissertation Approved: L.G. Moses Michael M. Smith Richard Rohrs Stephen Perkins ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The completion of this dissertation was possible because of the academic and emotional support of many individuals. I would like to express thanks to my advisor, L.G. Moses, whose insight and optimism kept this project moving forward. I would also like to express gratitude to OSU professors Dr. Michael M. Smith and Dr. Rick Rohrs, who read and improved several drafts of each chapter. Finally, I thank OSU professor of anthropology Dr. Stephen Perkins for invaluable feedback in the beginning and final stages of the project. I had outstanding research assistance from archivists and staff at several museums. Archivist Vickie Scheffler at the Northeastern State University archives in Tahlequah and archivist Tom Mooney at the Cherokee Heritage Center in Park Hill were especially helpful in locating Male Seminary documents. Vickie even found a photo of my great-grandmother’s school photo from the Female Seminary. I would also like to thank the archivists and staff at the Oklahoma Historical Society in Oklahoma City, the Huntington Museum in San Marino, CA, the Oklahoma State University Government Documents Department, and the Harvard University Special Collections Department. I would also like to thank my research assistant and sister, Jennifer Ashlock. iii I had tremendous emotional support from my friends and family, especially my dear friends Jennifer McKinney, Dustin DeVore, and Greg Cimino, my grandmother, Elaine Campbell, and my father, Jerry Ashlock. Jonah Panther has been an editor, sounding board, and cheerleader throughout my entire graduate career, and he’s also been an outstanding co-parent. Finally, I want to express my eternal gratitude to my mother, Challa Ashlock, for all of the encouragement and support throughout this time- consuming process. Thank you all!1 1 Acknowledgements reflect the view of the author and are not endorsed by committee members or Oklahoma State University. iv Name: NATALIE PANTHER Date of Degree: JULY, 2013 Title of Study: ‘TO MAKE US INDEPENDENT’: THE EDUCATION OF YOUNG MEN AT THE CHEROKEE MALE SEMINARY, 1851-1910 Major Field: HISTORY Abstract: In the years following forced removal, Cherokee leaders considered how to prevent future assaults on tribal sovereignty. Their answer was education. In 1846, the Cherokee National Council established two high schools, one for boys and one for girls. Modeled after northeastern high schools (such as Boston Latin School), the Cherokee Male Seminary featured instructional methods, curriculum, and disciplinarian measures similar to those found in institutions for white children. As a tool for cultural change, the seminary educational model resembled late nineteenth-century government Indian boarding schools. During its operation, the Male Seminary achieved dual goals: first, it provided some Cherokee youth with the same advanced education offered at top-tier academies in the Northeast; second, by adding the indigent program and Primary Department in the 1870s, the school made an elementary education more accessible to Cherokee children of all backgrounds and classes. By exploring the creation and goals of the Male Seminary, this work spotlights a crucial stage in the development of Cherokee education, the mid-nineteenth century in which tribal leaders decided to allocate a substantial portion of the tribal budget to post-Primary schools. Furthermore, by examining the political changes which swept the Cherokee Nation in the 1860s and 70s, this work demonstrates the consequences that shifting political power had for the seminary. Finally, the careers seminary students chose after graduation underscore the impact the school had on Cherokee society. Whether viewed as a paragon of higher learning or a tool for cultural destruction, the Cherokee Male Seminary educated several generations of young men and had an influence on tribal identity and culture. v TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter Page I. PREFACE ..................................................................................................................1 II. INTRODUCTION .....................................................................................................9 III. CHAPTER 1 ..........................................................................................................22 IV. CHAPTER 2 ..........................................................................................................40 V. CHAPTER 3 ..........................................................................................................60 VI. CHAPTER 4 ..........................................................................................................76 VII. CHAPTER 5 .......................................................................................................113 VIII. CONCLUSION .................................................................................................140 vi REFERENCES ..........................................................................................................154 APPENDICES ...........................................................................................................174 vii LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1 81 2 82 3 83 4 84 5 144 viii LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1 43 2 68 3 106 4 107 5 108 6 109 ix PREFACE “The culture we belong to and the legacies passed down by our forefathers shape the patterns of our achievements in ways that we cannot begin to imagine.” –Jay Hannah, descendant of a Cherokee seminary student2 On May 7, 2011, the Descendants of Cherokee National Male and Female Seminaries Student Association held their annual meeting in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. The attendees gathered in the Branscum Alumni Center at Northeastern State University, where they visited with old friends, met new members, and recalled stories about their ancestors’ experiences. My mother and I decided to join the luncheon to honor my great- grandmother, May Beatrice Tyner, who attended the female seminary in 1890. We enjoyed meeting and sharing our stories with the other descendants. One of the descendants, after hearing that I was writing my dissertation on the Male seminary, gave me a brick from the original building (a valuable artifact considering that the only thing left from the building is the base of one column). Others relayed amusing anecdotes about their grandparents’ school experiences, a few of which I was asked not to repeat. This association comprises dedicated members who believe that by honoring those who attended the seminaries we acknowledge the impact our ancestors’ lives had on future generations. 2 Jay Hannah, The Cherokee Phoenix, http://www.cherokeephoenix.org/24949/article.aspx. 1 When I discovered that my great-grandmother, May, attended the Cherokee Female Seminary, I wanted to learn more. My mother and grandmother were able to recall some specifics about May’s experience. She attended when she was thirteen years old in 1890 (the year that the newly-built seminary hall opened after a fire destroyed the original). She remained at the school for a year but ran away at the end of the year because “she was lonely.” She and a classmate walked and then hitched a ride on the back of a wagon from Tahlequah to Ochelata, a 108 mile journey. I learned later that her experience was not unique; several students ran away. While my mother and grandmother supplied some information about May’s experience, I decided that I wanted to learn more about the institutions themselves. I quickly came across a few works on the female seminary, including Devon Mihesuah’s Cultivating the Rosebuds: The Education of Women at the Cherokee Female Seminary, 1851-1909, but I discovered that there was relatively little on the school’s Male counterpart, the Cherokee Male seminary. This omission prompted me to write my dissertation on the institution. The purpose of this study is not to present a reinterpretation or correction in the extant literature but to investigate the nature of the Male Seminary and its impact on Cherokee society. Issues explored include masculinity and gender in nineteenth-century Cherokee society, the special role of class, dissention over the direction and purpose of public education in the Cherokee Nation, and the complex problems of ethnicity and race. Much of the scholarship on Indian boarding schools describes a dismal situation for the students who attended these schools. Culture shock, homesickness, physical and mental abuse, strictly regimented schedules, laborious work, and military-style living 2 characterized off-reservation boarding schools run by the federal government. The children who attended these schools suffered psychological damage as they were forbidden from being themselves and speaking their own language; they were given new names and strange and uncomfortable clothing. They were subjected to hard labor, physical punishment, ostracism, and assaults on their sense of self-worth.3 Understandably, much of extant scholarship